Whole Wheat Brownies

I'm back. I can't believe its been since July (of last year) that I posted. Last August I started wholesaling my breads at this lovely country store in Hardwick, MA call Clover Hill. Chris transformed part of our basement into an incredible 230 square foot kitchen with a commercial oven too! I cannot tell you how much I love that oven. The convection just bakes everything so perfectly, even with 30 loaves in the oven at once. So yes I have been busy. I now wholesale to three places (Clover Hill Country Store, Rutland Marketplace, and Princeton Mountainside Cafe). I will be back at the West Brookfield Farmers Market this summer and I think with all that baking I will set.

So this post is especially for my friend Jill and the others who I promised this recipe to for a while.

I wanted to incorporate more whole grains into my baking so I picked up King Arthur's Whole Grain Baking. I seriously sat down and read the whole thing (600 pages) and dog-eared every page I just had to try. So far I've done the scones, whole wheat brownies, and New York crumb cake.

Double Fudge Brownies

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups (15 oz) packed brown sugar(light or dark)
3/4 cup (2 1/4oz) Dutch-process cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp espresso powder (optional) - I haven't tried that yet
1/2 tsp orange extract (optional)- I absolutely love this stuff
1 tbsp Vanilla extract (be real- don't use imitation. Have I done a post on making it yet?)
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups (6 oz) whole wheat flour
2 cups (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips ( i've used less @ 8oz and they were still good)

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350F and grease a 9x13 inch pan

Melt the butter in a pan on your stove over low heat, add your sugar and stir to combine. Reheat the mixture till bubbly (this gives you a shiny crust on your brownies).

Stir in the cocoa, baking powder, salt, espresso powder or orange extract, and vanilla.
Let mixture cool till you can test it with your finger.

Whisk in your eggs one at a time. Then add in your flour and chocolate chips. Stir till smooth.

Pour into your prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes.

If you can wait let the brownies sit overnight before serving. This gives the bran a chance to soften and making them even better.

No one will believe you only used whole wheat flour. I will never go back to my original brownie recipe again. This is my absolute favorite.

Frozen Banana Bites

This is the perfect snacking summer time treat. It almost taste like a banana split. A little bit healthy, a little bit chocolatey.  Who could go wrong?

Ingredients:
Bananas
Your favorite Chocolate
Sliced almonds or your favorite nut

Directions:

Find a plate or tray that will fit nicely into your freezer without tipping. Slice bananas into chunks on a piece of parchment paper on tray/plate.  Melt chocolate in either double boiler on stove or in microwave. I opted for the microwave but had to add in a bit of milk to help the chocolate melt. Spoon or dip banana chunks into chocolate. Press almonds/nuts on top of banana bites. Freeze till hardened and transfer to a freezer bag or container. These are sooo good. I think you could get really creative with the toppings too.

Enjoy!

Apple Cranberry Oat Crisp

Besides apples, cranberries is one of the fruits I really look forward to in the fall. When I used to live in Westford there was this land behind the house where we hiked everyday. My landlord showed us this random spot where wild cranberries grew. I have no clue how they started there, but it was fantastic.  So for three years in a row I went out there to pick cranberries.  This also included last year when I was no longer living there and they also had "developed"  this beautiful land so my friend Amy and I had to sneak through to get to the trails. It's a bit tedious picking cranberries, but also relaxing. And no, you don't have to wade through a bog to pick them. These cranberries are much tarter than your store variety, but oh so tasty.  I would use them to make cranberry vodka or gin, cranberry apple jam, Thanksgiving stuffing, or put a twist on the classic apple crisp.


Apple Cranberry Oat Crisp

Topping
1 cup flour
1 cup oats
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup of melted butter

Filling
6 medium apples sliced, peeled, and cored
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of tapioca
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup of cranberries

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 and butter the dish your cooking it in.
Prep your apples and place them in a bowl. Mix in the rest of the filling ingredients and place in your buttered dish.
Mix all of your dry topping ingredients together before you add in the melted butter. Crumble the topping over the apple mixture and place in your oven. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the fruit is tender.